Grilled tomato and goats cheese squares..and Bretagne(Brittany) in June

We are outside. Non stop. The weather couldn’t be more perfect. The days are wonderfully warm, sunny. The cigales are crazily announcing summer in the meadows. I am crazily happy.

Taking our meals outside in summer is a given. Preparing it outside is a given too. These tomato and goats cheese apéros ( appetizers)do it both ways. It is prepared by the barbeque fire. It is grilled on the fire. It is eaten by the fire. An ice cold dry rosé wine and life is crazily wonderful.

La recette:

Pincée de fleur de sel:

Use feta cheese instead of goat’s cheese.

Use feuille de brick, if available, which is not as thin and delicate as phyllo pastry.

Add some flaked fish of your choice or add a sardine, in which case you can use dill or coriander instead of basil.

Use other herbs of your choice..

Leave out the tomato and add fresh spinach leaves and dry roasted pine nuts for a more Greek flavour.

To serve as something sweet with coffee after barbeque…roll chocolates, chopped nuts of your choice and a mint leaf in the pastry sheets, treat the same way on the coals and enjoy with coffee around the fire.

Place at an appropriate distance above the coals on a grill.

Brush with a home made rosemary brush and olive oil.

We visited friends in Bretagne and were treated in typical Breton fashion to a wealth of cuisine Bretonne. Seafoods galore, vegetables, notably carrottes Nantaises( of which I have planted in my potager), crépes and galettes, sablés, far breton, quatre quart, kouign amann, cidre, beignets, butter, butter, butter… It is truly a good thing we don’t live in Bretagne for I would have rolled instead of walked. Fortunately, we did a lot of walking to fight the calories. I invite you now on some of our promenades around Rennes and the seaside villages of Tharon and Pornic.

Promenades en mer…boat trips.

The port of Pornic is quaint and with the perfect summer weather we had, the whole world crept out of their shells comme les escargots de leurs coquilles(like snails from their shells).

Le blanc du nil is a well known chain store in the French seaside villages. They sell only white cotton and linen clothes and I love it for the prices and the loose summer dresses, shirts and slacks and skirts. And of course the all white look makes you feel cool and light. And a little chic too…

The walkway was filled with people, basking in summer sun, seeking out some dappled shade and licking dripping ice creams. We did too.

A lonesome Canna lily adding some charm to an ordinary signpost indicating the way to the hotel de Ville of Pornic.

Back in Tharon, it was time for eating again, something we did too much of , but enjoyed so much! The boulangerie Tharonnaise is comfortably just a walk down the road where one doesn’t mind queuing for all the bakes delicacies I mentioned above.

One of those wonderful delicious sinful and dangerous cakes, is the kouign amann, for which Bretagne is known for. I DO plan on baking it, sharing it with you, I REALLY DO! But only after I lost the 3 kg I picked up after eating it in Bretagne! Typical Ronelle style, one slice was not enough…It is literally a butter cake and a little challenging on the making-side: made with bread dough and folded like puff pastry with loads of butter and sugar which, during the baking process, gives you a devilishly, deliciously, flaked caramelized cake.

One of our outings was also just down the road…a regular vide grenier in Tharon. As you can see below..one man’s junk becomes another man’s fortune. We found some fortunes there too…

Of course we visited the beach with its colourful cabanes which mostly belong to the inhabitants of Tharon and gets unlocked every season to let out the sunscreens and chairs and umbrellas and beachballs…

As is shown below…the beach umbrella and bags and towels and kiddies were let out of the colourful cabanes.. well, maybe not the kiddies…

I fell in love with these original fishing platforms, les pêcheries et leurs cabanes

A close up..

A lunch of langoustines, and lemon mayonnaise with baguettes from la boulangerie and accompanied by a crisp white wine.

In Rennes the géraniums on the windowsills paraded shamelessly in their beauty and gaiety.

We had a schedule to follow in Rennes, a to-do list that kept us on a quick run. Nonetheless we found the time for a pit stop in the centre ville to have un café créme et un allongé, while we drooled at seeing the bar à crépe which was just opening its doors early morning. Next time.

Centre ville in Rennes.

Hope you had fun on this promenade. And I hope you on your turn drooled at the tomato and goat’s cheese apéro’s. Maybe enough to make them. I should probably have given you an exciting recipe from Bretagne, as the post asks for….but what are rules made for, if not to be broken? I greet you as always….

Fantastic post, a little bit of everything, lovely to see some of the coast of Bretagne..
The tomato & goats cheese squares will be a must to try when my son & his family arrive in July. Lovely photo of you & your husband, such a handsome couple.

Soon, abundant fresh herbs and tomatoes will be available form my little garden to make these wonderful grilled packages. They look delicious!

What a lovely getaway you had with your husband! I love all of the photos and especially the one of the two of you :) I will anxiously await your post about Kouign-Amann if you decide to make them. I have saved a recipe after the first time I saw those flaky, buttery bites.

Hi Ronelle. Seems your post is being reposted. Anyway I wanted to comment and say that I liked this idea and was thinking that I might use wonton wrappers instead of puff pastry sheets. Would that be as delicious? What do you think?
Would I love to pick through those blue bins for some interesting china bits!
What an interesting place you live in!

Hin Caterine…yes, I saw that it was posted again. Once again not my doping..
I havenever tried wonton wrappers, but I amsure they can wxork as well..don’t know how well they will grill, but why not try it?
Ronelle

Archives

Follow me on Instagram

MES AMIS…

I only realized this morning that February has almost had it. I am still going strong with my little food studies and by now it has become a habit to do a little food study or even 2 a day. It is all still about the brushstroke. The best ones will be put up on […]

The big problem with draft horses roaming free in the pastures is that they get very dirty in winter. and of course they hate being closed up. Living on hills don’t make it any easier. So we keep them in a smaller camp, both for their own sake and for the fields’ sake. But with […]

When I was young, I had beautiful shoes. High heels, stilettos, platforms, ballerinas, even vintage shoes my mother wore in the 40’s. But that was then. Now my favorite shoes are loafers. With dresses or with trousers. I wear my loafers all four seasons long. In summer I love sandals too. Ones with bands over […]

Talk about fruit beauty..Blood Oranges..Oranges Sanguines~I ♥ the look of them and what we do with them..One day..I decided to go through old magazines I have been keeping (hoarding? No..keeping..)I threw out all my Bon Appétits..save a few..since before 1999!and oh so many Food and Drink..since 1999 on..It pained me..but I did go through many to see..if I […]

The Burger Bar is not your usual hamburger joint, far from it. Located in the attractive Donald Ross Village Plaza in Palm Beach Gardens, the Burger Bar is pure Florida fun…sophisticated yet funky, gourmet but casual. With its striking black and … Continue reading →

Those of you who know me will even get a BIGGER KICK out of these photos! You see my ITALIAN HUSBAND and I are complete OPPOSITES…… A dear neighbor who is a PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER saw this right AWAY!He has ... continue reading »

I am thrilled and honored that the International Reading Association chose my new Running Out of Night as one of their "2014 Best Chapter Books."Dear Friends,I am overwhelmed by your many kindnesses. You're the best (as is my husband). I couldn't keep limping along without your support.Are you wondering about the bad English in my title? […]

All across the virgin snow And through the naked trees On a cold winter's night His song is on the breeze Where the moonlight paints the frost Upon the robin's song He's come a-calling for us all Now the summer's gone!Hark! Hear the children singGlory to the Holly King!- Hail The Holly King by Inkubus Sukkubus~~~~~~~~~~~ Wishing you and y […]

First of all, let me tell you that these delicious rolls were a 'labor of love'! I first saw the charming, snail-shaped rolls called "Lumachelle of Orvieto" on Chiara's Italian blog La Voglia Matta in January. Lumaca means snail in Italian and Oriveto is the city in Umbria where they are popular. I immediately put the recipe to the t […]

Captain’s Log, January 2015: First a rehash; 2014 saw the Fairegarden enterprise make a tumultuous relocation of its home base in August, selling and turning over the helm after a fourteen year stint as its captain on a steep slope … Continue reading →

Gary left for Albany at 5am and was up by 4. I was not able to fall back to sleep. This morning it was very windy and I don't know what that translated to as far as the temperature goes. We hit a high of about 27. On days like this the girls go in and out of the indoor. I had a 2pm meeting in Brockport. We are working on the program for the 50th ann […]

Plumeria (aka Frangipani ) The picture I posted last week was of the buds. And while these things are ridiculously easy to grow, (heck! I had one in a pot in London!) I have been frustrated at every turn in … Continue reading →

I don't normally take many photos of my winter garden unless it is covered in snow. However, this year, we have not had any snow except for a dusting. I love the look of a four-season garden without the snow and the many variations of color and texture. There is a great deal of color with the greens, browns, tans and reds in the front border. Azalea Ka […]

I learnt many things from my late mom. She taught me to love the intricacies of language, from how beautiful poetry can use words to bring you to tears, to how to write formal letters with razor-sharp wit, meaning and clarity. It is because of her that I love to travel to new places with an open […]

When cold weather arrives, there’s nothing better than a comforting pot roast simmering in the oven to warm you up. I know many of you have had to endure a very brutal winter and bone chilling temperatures. Believe me, you have all of my sympathy. So much so that I made my husband promise I would never have to be cold again and we follow the sun to Florida f […]